Re: New Radon Study

["Michael S Ford" <MFORD@pantex.com>]

To Dr. Bill Field:

Bill, does your study discuss contrasts with other studies that have found no specific link with radon?  What was the risk found to be with "never-smokers"?

Can I get a copy of your report?

Thanks!
Michael
TRAB
mford@pantex.com

>>> kckerns%iastate.edu@internet.pantex.com 25 May 00 8:42:49 AM >>>
This article from the Des Moines Register reports a new radon study. It
could change our Society's Position on radon.
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788996/11402932.html 

=====================================
Ken Kerns, RSO
Iowa State University
(515)294-0746
kckerns@iastate.edu 
Study: Radon increases cancer risk
=====================================

By PERRY BEEMAN
Register Staff Writer
05/25/2000

A University of Iowa study released today shows that  radon in Iowa homes
increases the risk of lung cancer and is a significant health threat.

Radon levels just equal to the health limit set by the federal government
increased lung-cancer rates by at
 least 50 percent in the study. The risk was 83 percent higher in cases
where researchers were able to interview the participants about where they
spent their time. That allowed scientists to get an even better idea of
radon exposures.

Many of the 1,027 women studied were exposed to higher concentrations than
four picoCuries per liter of air - the standard set by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. 

"As the radon exposure rose, so did the lung-cancer risk," said lead
researcher William Field of the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

The study strengthens the case that radon in homes is a significant health
threat, despite several earlier studies that were inconclusive, said David
Rowson of the EPA.

Radon is a byproduct of the natural breakdown of soil and rocks. It seeps
into homes through cracks in
basement walls. When the radon breaks down, it forms radioactive particles
that can lodge in the lungs,
damaging them.

Based on studies of miners' exposure to radon on the job, other studies have
estimated that 18,600 Americans die of radon-caused lung cancer each year,
accounting for an estimated 10 percent of lung-cancer cases.  Smoking is by
far the greatest risk.

"The bottom line is, don't smoke," Field said. "If you do, stop. And test
your home for radon."

The researchers studied women because they tend to have fewer job-related
radon exposures and also usually spent more time at home. There would be
little or no difference in the risk for men, Field said.

The study adjusted for smoking and included women who recently had a
diagnosis of lung cancer and others who didn't have lung cancer. It was
financed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and
included scientists from the U of I, St. John's University in Collegeville,
Minn., and the University of Kansas.

The results will be published in the June 1 American Journal of
Epidemiology.

The EPA applauded the Iowa study as scientifically sound work that
strengthened methods of calculating radon exposures.

"This study confirms that radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer
and a big public health concern," said Rowson, director of the agency's
Health Homes division.

Iowa has some of the highest radon levels in the United States, indoors and
out, because of the soil conditions left by a glacier more than 10,000 years
ago.

Field said his study's elaborate measurements of radon levels, along with
work to establish radon exposures outside and in other places the subjects
spent time, makes this one of the best looks at the risk. "There is no
question that radon causes lung cancer," Field said.

On average, the women studied had lived in the same home for 37 years. Some
were smokers, some weren't. The study included 413 women who had lung cancer
and 614 who didn't. They ranged from ages 40 to 84. Radon in each home was
tested for a year.

Scientists have debated how many cancer cases residential radon causes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Lung
Association and the American Medical Association agree that radon causes
lung cancer.  Last year, the National Academy of Science reviewed many
studies, including Iowa's preliminary findings, and backed that view.

Raymond Johnson, president of the Health Physics Society, called the Iowa
study "by far the most substantial study of residential radon health effects
accomplished to date."

Michael Alavanja of the National Cancer Institute said previous radon
studies underestimated the risk by using low exposure estimates.
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information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html